RIYADH: Gulf Arab states accused Iran on Wednesday of trying to politicize the hajj after its supreme leader lashed out at Saudi authorities over their management of the annual pilgrimage.

The head of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council said that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s remarks accusing Riyadh of “murder” over the deaths of nearly 2,300 pilgrims at last year’s hajj were “inappropriate and offensive.”

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